The present invention relates to a shear for shearing laminar elements, flat material or the like. This shear comprises at least one pair of blade-holders and associated blades which move substantially parallel to each other along straight lines which are spaced apart a predetermined distance from each other. The predetermined distance is computed as a function of the thickness of the material and the nature of the material which is to be sheared. The blades have cutting edges which, at the time of shearing, apply a pair of mutually perpendicular forces Fx and Fy to the material being sheared. The force Fy acts along a straight line perpendicular to a plane or surface through the material or upon which the material rests. It is along the straight line of the force Fy that the blade-holders and blades move during the shearing operation.